This partial biography of Robinson's first forty years presents a new Robinson - not the 'Black Robinson' of Rae-Ellis, James Bonwick, John West and James Erskine Calder, nor the 'White Robinson' of Mark Twain - but a 'Grey Robinson', a grey robin with a red breast.

The various Tamar River ports in the north of Tasmania have been significant since the arrival of the first European settlers to Port Dalrymple in 1804. Tamar River Leads describes the various surveys carried out near the river mouth and the safety measures put in place to minimise risks to incoming and outgoing vessels.